SI writer suggests so...

https://www.si.com/college/georgia/.amp/news/tom-crean-uga-blame-georgia-basketball-exodus

I am not squeamish when it comes to cheating I sports. But what Harrick was doing was so wreckless and careless it showed a total disregard for any effort whatsoever to cover his tracks or protect the univserity or his own brand.

What came out wasn't that big of a deal. But they were so afraid from the other stuff swirling. Like Larry Turner's SAT score and other rumors. They were afraid of him. And then Mike Adams wanted to be NCAA president. And the hoops program was just a pawn in his game.

They definitely over reacted. But after he told Rashad to lie to the NCAA....it was over. His inability to tell the truth is legendary. He wasn't fired at UCLA for the expense report. He was fired for lying about it.

He is a great great coaches all time on the court. But a miserable pile of trash ethically.

The BB program currently is not that great. You have to figure next year will be worse after the mass exudos this spring. The problem is who could you convince to come turn it around? We are a very unattractive program for most of the better coaches and players at the moment, and we are surrounded by stud players. They are going to have to shell out the big bucks and try to lure the right guy that can bring in better talent on a yearly basis to turn it around. Unlike football, you could completely change the program in a hurry in basketball with one or two really good classes.

The new age with transferring means a coach who can quickly assemble whomever shows up into a cohesive team on a year-by-year basis. Forget building a program with juniors and seniors, or even sophomores offering continuity. Crean will need to embrace this, and he probably does, or it is not gonna' work. Regardless of style, he's got to find better shooters. Racing down the court to missed layups is no better than a half court set to missed shots.

Dean Legge said:

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Yes. They over reacted.

They also allowed Damon, who really did t know what he was doing, to hire Dennis.

The problem since that time is the person in charge as head coach for basketball has not been the right fit.

That's what Georgia needs. And it has not had that.

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Dean, who is someone you see as a right fit that we would have a realistic shot at hiring?

The cycle since Tubby left has been hard. Jirsa was not the answer and then Harrick was just as you said. Felton, Fox, and now Crean all misses. It is wearing on this Dawg basketball fan

I think Marsellus could've convinced some young recruits to come here.

Dean Legge said:

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There are a lot of folks.

The guy at UNCG
Jonas
Whoever

The point is they need to have some ties to the southeast. They need to understand what they are getting into. The sec is a huge draw. It's become a significantly better league since 2016. And it is flowing with money.

But they have to be the right fit. Harrick was the right fit, but just totally crooked and didn't care. That won't work at UGA. At least one of those won't work.

But there are folks out there. I think going younger makes sense. But there is no one thing the next coach has to be. I've never thought Crean would be at UGA for the long term.

But I think the next Coach certainly could be.

The challenge is getting the right fit. It is that simple.

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Honest question, would you have felt the same way about Matta as you do Crean?

GoodDawg4733 said:

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Dean Legge said:

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There are a lot of folks.

The guy at UNCG
Jonas
Whoever

The point is they need to have some ties to the southeast. They need to understand what they are getting into. The sec is a huge draw. It's become a significantly better league since 2016. And it is flowing with money.

But they have to be the right fit. Harrick was the right fit, but just totally crooked and didn't care. That won't work at UGA. At least one of those won't work.

But there are folks out there. I think going younger makes sense. But there is no one thing the next coach has to be. I've never thought Crean would be at UGA for the long term.

But I think the next Coach certainly could be.

The challenge is getting the right fit. It is that simple.

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Honest question, would you have felt the same way about Matta as you do Crean?

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It doesn't Matta (joking).

Btw, on 28 March 2021 Indiana hired Thad Matta as as an associate athletic director of basketball administration, tasked with assisting new head coach Mike Woodson off the court.

Dean, glad to see you mention Jonas. He would not have done worse than what is going on now. And, I suppose those saying just recruit Atlanta are using ATL to be saying recruit GA. Heck of a lot of Georgia players at other schools who didnt grow up in the "404."

We overreacted for sure. The bad hires that followed are independent failures though.

We have got to get an alpha recruiter in here at least once.
If nothing else a good recruiting staff can leave a good talent base for the next guy. It is hard to believe that Tubby and Harrick are the only good hires that we have made in the last 30yrs. Our inability to at least get a mini streak of tournament appearances out of every other guy borders on gross negligence.

We haven't even tried hiring mid-major coaches with a run of tournament success since Felton. Tubby was the only guy coming off an NCAA tournament win when hired. Think about that. That is crazy, right? Why aren't we trying to hire the flavor of the month each time we are in the market? Our inability to cut our losses quickly and hire currently successful coaches is maddening.

It is not rocket science. We just need to keep hiring guys who are making the tournament when we are hiring. If they flame out, pull the trigger on the next guy from the current crop of mid-major guys who made the tournament.

If you just hired tournament guys, you could change UGA basketball over time. If you only hired guys coming off the sweet sixteen or round of 32 appearances, you'd increase your chances of success further.

It is not that hard to have some fleeting success at basketball. You only need 13 dudes and you can turn the roster over quicker than ever these days. Nate Oats and Eric Musselman were solid options when Crean was hired. To my knowledge, neither was pursued.

As far as current names go, Wes Miller, Jeff Boals, Grant McCasland, and Mark Pope are a good place to start. Pat Kelsey would also work. With a good staff, a guy can win here.

Another sneaky good hire right now would be Brad Underwood.

First, we overreacted to the problems with Harrick. They were nowhere near a blow up the program level. And that's what we did. We blew it up. Then we certainly overreacted in hiring Felton and Fox. Neither fit what we need in Athens. UGA is a tough job because we don't have a history of success in hoops and because the administration has always undervalued basketball.